Free the ferrets, help the state budget, says ferret advocate

	Photo: Los Angeles Times

The leader of a pro-ferret group sees a connection between the California state government's budget morass and its refusal to join 48 other states in legalizing ferret ownership.

"How can a government that consistently and blatantly ignores the reasonable requests of its citizens ever hope to be fiscally responsible?" writes Pat Wright, leader of LegalizeFerrets.org.

Dropping the ban on ferrets could boost the state's coffers, Wright argues, through sales taxes, registration and licensing fees and permits.

"These two issues -- the state budget and the ban on domestic ferrets -- are twin symptoms of the rampant fiscal management and top-down bad decision-making that has been going on in California for decades," Wright adds.

-- Tony Perry, San Diego

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Posted by Tony Perry on February 4, 2009